KUER⁠0%

Memorial Day is a big travel weekend. Gas prices have some Utahns thinking otherwise 

By Hugo Rikard-Bell⁠0%

5/21/2026, 10:17:08 PM

BS Summary: The article has not yet been analyzed.

The backyard barbecue might win out over the road trip this Memorial Day weekend, thanks to skyrocketing gas prices. 
That’s what KUER heard from some Utahns when asked about how the cost of fuel is impacting their travel plans. 
“Because of high gas prices, I can't afford the 45-minute drive to my parents’ house for a barbecue or the hour drive to my sister's grave,” Lindon resident Staci Chase wrote in. 
“I am going to have burgers at home with my spouse.” 
They both work in education, she said, and have been “tight-fisted financially.” 
She said to fill up her car costs almost triple what it did before the war in Iran. 
Since President Donald Trump started Operation Epic Fury at the end of February, the Middle Eastern country has shut down the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway that typically handles around 25% of the world’s oil supply. 
So far, the U.S. has spent approximately $29 billion on the war, and fuel prices have soared across the United States. 
In parts of Utah, the lowest grade of fuel is nearly $4.70 a gallon, with premium and diesel well over $5.20. 
Just a year ago, the average cost per gallon was $3.31 and $3.43, respectively. 
For small business owner and self-professed car enthusiast Kerry Simon, it’s true that gas prices changed his road trip plans this weekend. 
Beyond that, the reality of another Middle Eastern war has changed the way he thinks about using oil and gas altogether. 
“There is a true human cost to it,” he said. 
On Memorial Day weekend in particular, he added, he sees a “weird juxtaposition” in honoring those who died in wars where oil played a central role, only to commemorate the holiday by filling up the car with gas for a road trip. 
Simon is originally from Texas and was in college during 9/11. 
He said, like most Americans at the time, he was very patriotic about the country's role in the Middle East. 
Soon after he moved to Boston, where he said his perspective on U.S. politics began to change. 
He’s since made a choice to limit the amount of gas he uses. 
”For a couple years now, it's starting to feel like, you know, a heavier burden than just I have to spend a couple extra dimes at the gas pump per gallon,” he said. 
To limit his carbon footprint, he bought a bike and uses it to travel anywhere within a 5-mile radius of his house. 
“I've put like 1,800 miles on that bike since I got it, and I'm sure I could do more,” he said. 
The war in Iran has been going on for months now, after Trump initially declared it would only take weeks. 
Since then, multiple peace deals have been pitched, and an agreement has yet to be reached. 
Currently, Iran is reviewing the White House’s latest proposal for a ceasefire. 
Negotiations for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are currently underway. 
Against the backdrop of these political moves, the average price of premium gas in Utah has jumped by around $1.50 per gallon in the last year. 
Even so, many Utahns will still brave the price at the pump and get out for the holiday weekend anyway. 
The Utah Department of Transportation advised travelers to prepare for significant delays on U.S. 6, as well as more moderate slowdowns on I-15 from Spanish Fork to Nephi and U.S. 89 from Logan to Bear Lake. 
At the Salt Lake City Airport, officials are expecting slightly higher numbers than last year, and tens of thousands of people could come through the front door on peak days. 
For Simon and his family, the money they would be spending on a tank of fuel to go down to Moab is going elsewhere. 
“As far as this Memorial Day, we're going to buy a grill and we're going to stay home,” he said. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 9.6%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 3.1%KUER: 2.8%Confirmation Bias9.6%This article: 2.1%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.2%KUER: 1.3%Anchoring Bias2.1%This article: 6.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 3.5%KUER: 3.4%Availability Heuristic6.0%This article: 3.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.2%KUER: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic3.0%This article: 3.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.5%KUER: 0.5%Hindsight Bias3.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.9%KUER: 1.9%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 6.3%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 7.2%KUER: 7.4%Framing Effect6.3%This article: 9.7%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.4%KUER: 1.3%Loss Aversion9.7%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.1%KUER: 1.2%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.3%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 6.1%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 4.0%KUER: 4.4%Optimism Bias6.1%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.4%KUER: 2.4%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 5.4%KUER: 6.3%Negativity Bias0.0%This article: 1.9%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 4.2%KUER: 2.2%Self-Serving Bias1.9%This article: 1.8%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.9%KUER: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error1.8%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.4%KUER: 1.9%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.6%KUER: 0.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 3.3%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.0%KUER: 2.3%Halo Effect3.3%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.1%KUER: 0.1%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.0%KUER: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 4.5%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.9%KUER: 1.2%Recency Bias4.5%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.1%KUER: 0.3%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.1%KUER: 0.1%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.1%KUER: 0.6%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.5%KUER: 0.4%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 3.6%KUER: 4.7%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.8%KUER: 1.7%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.2%KUER: 1.1%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 8.8%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 4.7%KUER: 4.1%Hasty Generalization8.8%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.3%KUER: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.5%KUER: 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 7.8%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 6.7%KUER: 5.6%Appeal to Emotion7.8%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.9%KUER: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 26.5%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.2%KUER: 2.4%Post Hoc (False Cause)26.5%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.5%KUER: 0.4%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 11.1%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 3.2%KUER: 3.1%Anecdotal11.1%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 19.3%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.3%KUER: 1.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)19.3%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.0%KUER: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.3%KUER: 0.2%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.2%KUER: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.3%KUER: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.1%KUER: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.2%KUER: 0.8%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.6%KUER: 0.7%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 2.6%KUER: 2.2%Biased Writer Voice0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.1%KUER: 1.6%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 1.4%KUER: 0.8%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.4%KUER: 0.3%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Hugo Rikard-Bell: 0.3%KUER: 1.0%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

668 words analyzed.

Speakers

5speakers51%attributed speech328writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 0.0% coverageKUER • 20 words • 0.0% coverageStaci Chase • 32 words • 0.0% coverageStaci Chase • 11 words • 0.0% coverageStaci Chase • 12 words • 0.0% coverageStaci Chase • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 38 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 22 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 10 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 42 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 17 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 13 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 33 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 22 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 21 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageUtah Department of Transportation • 36 words • 0.0% coverageSalt Lake City Airport • 30 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 24 words • 0.0% coverageKerry Simon • 20 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Kerry Simon

89%flagged-word coverage
181 attributed words53% of attributed speech72% writer coverage

No manipulation-pattern hits were found in this speaker's attributed words or the writer's voice.

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.